I was recently inspired by a Yidris list that I saw online. The goal of the deck was nothing more than to copy and steal things from opponents and play their cards for/with them. This seemed like a great idea as the game would ideally play out differently every time. So, I started with the original list and made a couple of changes. However, I ran into a couple of problems:
- I noticed that the majority of the cards in the list were blue, which makes sense given the theme.
- Green seemed like a necessity because I have no place for a bunch of fun, excitingSimiccards.
- Black is the most commonly-played color in all of my other decks, so I'm a little short on blackstaples.
- Red was primarily there for cascades and freecast triggers.
- Finally, I still have a foil copy of the Scarab God that I bought for dirt cheap before the standard format blew up its price tag, so it'd be nice to put that to good use.
In summary, I'm having a hard time deciding which commander to use. Do I...
- play all four colors and keep Yidris?
- cut red and green and play my shiny The Scarab God?
- cut red and play The Mimeoplasm, with Scarab in the 99?
- cut black and play Maelstrom Wanderer?
As someone who just finished building The Scarab God with my shiny Invocation, I can appreciate that option.
But my vote is on Yidris. Your assessment feels spot on - You're basically going to be playing a Simic deck with Black and Red splashed in. A wider pool of cards won't hurt. For me, part of the fun of deckbuilding is finding alternatives. So if you're short on Black staples, as you say, lean more heavily into Blue or play some wheel effects for the hell of it. It'll definitely keep the experience fresh and interesting.
You can still run The Scarab God as a value engine in the deck regardless, blind your opponents with it's golden glow.
If I had to pick one of the choices given I think that I would go with The Mimeoplasm, but I think you ought to consider Riku of Two Reflections for your potential Temur choice in lieu of Maelstrom Wanderer. You can copy all the Clone effects, theft effects, and other nonsense, and you get to run all the best of these in the Temur colors. If Riku isn't your thing, then Maelstrom Wanderer would be my suggestion if for no other reason than it gives you access to the best colors.
Of what you have listed I guess I'd suggest Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder. He can present a few hoops to jump through to get the most out of him though.
In terms of an ideal clonery/thievery general though, I'd suggest Lazav, Dimir Mastermind. Obviously it doesn't pick up some of the cards you want to play, but he works well with a few clones in the deck and scales well to most metas. He's a lot of fun.
In terms of an ideal clonery/thievery general though, I'd suggest Lazav, Dimir Mastermind. Obviously it doesn't pick up some of the cards you want to play, but he works well with a few clones in the deck and scales well to most metas. He's a lot of fun.
2nd Lazav
Lots of fun, many directions to take, clone/theft commander.
Once your commander is on the field, every Mirror Image or Phantasmal Image or Rite of Replication token goes right into the graveyard due to the legend rule, allowing you to steal another creature.
It's a fairly narrow deck in terms of what directions you can take it but Keiga certainly gets points for style.
Once your commander is on the field, every Mirror Image or Phantasmal Image or Rite of Replication token goes right into the graveyard due to the legend rule, allowing you to steal another creature.
It's a fairly narrow deck in terms of what directions you can take it but Keiga certainly gets points for style.
Keiga is definitely an interesting option, though I'm biased running her myself. It's definitely a meta dependent deck though as its a deck depending on a 6 CMC Commander, so it works a tad better in slower metas.
I also vote Lazav, which is the third vote for those counting. You haven't experienced fear until you've seen a hexproof Void Winnower or Vorinclex on the board. Play him with incidental mill spells like Extract from Darkness and Winds of Rebuke (you're not a mill deck, but normally-bad cards where the mill is just a side effect become good with Lazav). Also run Treacherous Urge and some combination of Despise, Divest, Harsh Scrutiny, Ostracize, and Thoughtseize.
The only black staple you need is Animate Dead, unless you're playing in a cutthroat meta.
You can also run Scarab God in the deck, and he can switch-hit as the commander since he and Lazav both support similar strategies.
Keiga is a little too far off the path for my tastes, but it is certainly a unique idea.
Riku is a good option as well. My only concern with him is that he's pretty fragile, and I'm not looking to devote resources to protecting him. Still, he's probably better than MW for his colors.
Lazav seems like he'd belong in the 99 of whichever commander I pick, if possible.
I'd say Sakashima the Impostor for clone and steal. That way you can include all the wicked blue clones and blue steal spells and Sakashima is a clone master.
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Marchesa, the Black Rose is probably the best choice here. Take stuff with Threaten effects, attack with them/put +1/+1 counters on them, then sacrifice them for keeps. Also, it's the perfect colors.
If people are sick of reading about stuff just stop taking part. You have 100% control over what you read. Simic Ascendancy isn't going to get banned just because you didn't tell someone to shut up on the internet.
Seconding Marchesa. Being able to reuse clones to change targets is also excellent. It's my favorite deck currently.
The concept is sound, but I already have UR and BR decks in my box...which brings up another good point. Do you ever consider your other deck/color combinations when picking a new guy?
I run a Memnarch deck that I only pull out as a last resort in case a combo or control player is really dominating a pod over a series of games. It's a lot of fun - for me, anyway, because I just steal all the things.
Memnarch won't make you any friends, but he's real good at taking things that aren't yours.
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I was recently inspired by a Yidris list that I saw online. The goal of the deck was nothing more than to copy and steal things from opponents and play their cards for/with them. This seemed like a great idea as the game would ideally play out differently every time. So, I started with the original list and made a couple of changes. However, I ran into a couple of problems:
- I noticed that the majority of the cards in the list were blue, which makes sense given the theme.
- Green seemed like a necessity because I have no place for a bunch of fun, exciting Simic cards.
- Black is the most commonly-played color in all of my other decks, so I'm a little short on black staples.
- Red was primarily there for cascades and free cast triggers.
- Finally, I still have a foil copy of the Scarab God that I bought for dirt cheap before the standard format blew up its price tag, so it'd be nice to put that to good use.
In summary, I'm having a hard time deciding which commander to use. Do I...
- play all four colors and keep Yidris?
- cut red and green and play my shiny The Scarab God?
- cut red and play The Mimeoplasm, with Scarab in the 99?
- cut black and play Maelstrom Wanderer?
But my vote is on Yidris. Your assessment feels spot on - You're basically going to be playing a Simic deck with Black and Red splashed in. A wider pool of cards won't hurt. For me, part of the fun of deckbuilding is finding alternatives. So if you're short on Black staples, as you say, lean more heavily into Blue or play some wheel effects for the hell of it. It'll definitely keep the experience fresh and interesting.
You can still run The Scarab God as a value engine in the deck regardless, blind your opponents with it's golden glow.
In terms of an ideal clonery/thievery general though, I'd suggest Lazav, Dimir Mastermind. Obviously it doesn't pick up some of the cards you want to play, but he works well with a few clones in the deck and scales well to most metas. He's a lot of fun.
2nd Lazav
Lots of fun, many directions to take, clone/theft commander.
Once your commander is on the field, every Mirror Image or Phantasmal Image or Rite of Replication token goes right into the graveyard due to the legend rule, allowing you to steal another creature.
It's a fairly narrow deck in terms of what directions you can take it but Keiga certainly gets points for style.
Keiga is definitely an interesting option, though I'm biased running her myself. It's definitely a meta dependent deck though as its a deck depending on a 6 CMC Commander, so it works a tad better in slower metas.
The only black staple you need is Animate Dead, unless you're playing in a cutthroat meta.
You can also run Scarab God in the deck, and he can switch-hit as the commander since he and Lazav both support similar strategies.
Other undervalued theft cards are Spelltwine and Talent of the Telepath (especially because Talent mills the other cards)
- Rabid Wombat
Riku is a good option as well. My only concern with him is that he's pretty fragile, and I'm not looking to devote resources to protecting him. Still, he's probably better than MW for his colors.
Lazav seems like he'd belong in the 99 of whichever commander I pick, if possible.
“I once had an entire race killed just to listen to the rattling of their dried bones as I waded through them.”
—Volrath
Modern: URW Madcap Experiment
Pauper: MonoU Tempo Delver
My EDH Commanders:
Aminatou, The Fateshifter UBW
Azami, Lady of Scrolls U
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed B
Edric, Spymaster of Trest UG
Glissa, the Traitor BG
Arcum Dagsson U
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
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StaffThe concept is sound, but I already have UR and BR decks in my box...which brings up another good point. Do you ever consider your other deck/color combinations when picking a new guy?
Memnarch won't make you any friends, but he's real good at taking things that aren't yours.